The debate over a Republican plan to have Howard County votersdecide whether it should be more difficult to raise taxes could get abit nasty.
County Council members Christopher J. Merdon (R-Northeast County)and Allan H. Kittleman (R-West County) are asking the Democratic-controlled council to approve a measure for the November ballot, acharter amendment requiring four of the five council members to agreeto future tax increases.
In an interview with The Washington Post last week, CountyExecutive James N. Robey (D) suggested the two council members werejust tired of being in the minority.
'When extremists decide through hook or crook they are going toeliminate the will of the majority, it's a problem,' Robey said.
If the council rejects the measure, as expected, Merdon andKittleman have vowed to work with the Howard County TaxpayersAssociation and the county Republican Party to gather the 10,000signatures needed to force the issue onto the ballot anyway.
The Republicans say they're pushing the issue because Robey is tooquick to raise taxes.
'When you don't have an argument on an issue, you start name-calling, and if that is the way he wants to debate the issue, thereis nothing I can do about it,' Kittleman said this week of Robey'scomments. He also said the executive is trying to scare voters intoopposing the measure by telling them that services could be cut.
Besides seeing it as bad public policy, Robey believes thereferendum would be an attack on his management skills. He said hehad no choice but to raise the income tax this year because thecounty would not have been able to pay its annual debt payments forbonds or its increased employee health insurance premiums.
Robey also accused Merdon and Kittleman of trying to use thereferendum to bolster their political careers. Both council membersare eyeing the county executive's job in 2006, when Robey can't runagain because of term limits.
'I don't think for a second this is not geared toward the 2006elections,' Robey said.
But Merdon denied that, saying: 'I think the Democrats' raisingtaxes five times in six years is a valid enough issue to run on.'
Both council members, however, can expect a continued drubbingfrom the county executive should the measure make it onto the ballot.'I believe the people of Howard County are too smart to followsomeone who leads by misleading,' Robey said.
When husband and wife Craig and Jeannette Lussi wait for the startof the 21st Columbia Triathlon on Sunday at Centennial Park, they'llbe joined by their 10-year-old son, Hunter, who also will swim, bikeand run in what is not his first, but so far his biggest, triathlon.
'Where else do I get to spend four solid hours with my son, whereI can do [the events] with him?' said Lussi, 42, a Montgomery Countyresident who with his wife is competing in their fifth ColumbiaTriathlon.
Intense athletic competition is a Lussi family tradition. Craig'sgrandfather, Gustav Lussi, was a renowned coach of Olympic figureskating champions in Lake Placid, N.Y. His father, Craig M. Lussi,competed in ski jumping in the 1960 Olympics.
'I skated literally before I could walk,' Lussi said.
During the triathlon, the Lussis' 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son are spending the day with their grandmother, Nancy Lussi, whotwo years ago learned to water ski at age 65.
When Bernadene Hallinan-Smith arrived at Howard Community Collegein 1971 to lead a brand-new nursing program, she knew graduates wouldneed a special event to mark their entry into nursing. In 1974, thefirst graduates received a pin with the college's emblem during aceremony organized by the students.
Through 30 years, the pinning ceremony has been an annual rite ofpassage for 1,917 graduates of the college's two-year nursingprogram.
Tomorrow, Hallinan-Smith will attend the latest pinning ceremonyto congratulate 39 new graduates and urge them to improve the healthcare system.
Hallinan-Smith, 79, was director of the program for 10 years untilher retirement in 1981.
Harriet Tubman High School was built as an all-black school in thedays before integration, but the name was never placed upon thebuilding.
That has always felt like a racist snub to the school's proudstudents and faculty.
'It always has been a sore point,' said alumnus Howard Lyles.
Now 40 years after the school closed, Tubman will finally get itsdue.
County school system officials say they will officially unveil newlettering on the building, spelling out the school's name at aceremony at 9 a.m. next Thursday.
'When I first heard the news, I said, 'Hallelujah, thank God!' 'Lyles said.
The old school building, adjacent to Atholton High School onFreetown Road, is being used for Head Start classes and storage.
But it is also seen as a cultural shrine by members of the HarrietTubman Foundation, including Lyles, the group's president.
The foundation, which had lobbied long for the name, is hopingthat someday the county will turn over the building so it can betransformed into an African American cultural center.
A dozen of Howard County's outstanding Hispanic high schoolseniors were scheduled to be honored Tuesday evening at Oakland MillsHigh School at the third annual Conexiones Convocation.
Conexiones, a Columbia-based volunteer organization, is dedicatedto promoting scholastic excellence among local Hispanic studentsthrough mentoring, tutoring, field trips and cultural events.
It has a fledgling scholarship fund that provided those beinghonored this year with checks of about $100 each to help themcontinue their educations.
The students being honored are Jessica Pagan of Atholton HighSchool; Daniel Felipe Gonzalez of Centennial High School; M. RyanCorces-Zimmerman of Glenelg High School; Sophia Berruz of HammondHigh School; Janelle Henry and Florencia Cecilia Vasta of Howard HighSchool; Laura Figueroa, Patricia Figueroa and Pablo Morales of LongReach High School; Jeffrey Morales of Mount Hebron High School; ErikaSiles of Oakland Mills High School; and Jason Barrero of River HillHigh School.
Staff writer Mary Otto also contributed to this report.
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